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Texas

Texas state unemployment tax to be partially suspended

04/07/2008
Gov. Rick Perry announced on March 10 that the state’s unemployment insurance replenishment tax will be suspended for one year. As a result of the suspension, about 370,000 affected businesses should see a tax savings of approximately $90 million …

Starbucks settles overtime suit

04/07/2008
Starbucks recently settled a lawsuit brought by assistant store managers who had accused the coffee company of denying them overtime wages in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Judge Keith Ellison of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas approved the settlement …

Landscape changing for noncompete agreements in Texas

04/07/2008
A year and a half ago, the Texas Supreme Court clarified whether employers may require new and existing employees to sign noncompete agreements without changing their at- will status. The court concluded they can—as long as the employer provides proper consideration in return …

A good reference for a good worker, even though we fired him?

04/07/2008
Q. We had to fire a good worker because of absenteeism problems. When someone who wants to hire him calls to verify past employment, what can we say about this man? …

Wage-and-Hour, on-Call and mileage issues for ‘Exempt’ workers

04/07/2008
Q. I own a home-health agency. Although my licensed vocational nurses are paid by the visit, my registered nursing staff is considered management. They are salaried. Are we lawfully required to pay our RNs “on-call” pay or mileage? Although it’s not documented as such, we have taken these things into consideration when setting their salaries …

Recapturing health insurance premiums following FMLA leave

04/01/2008
Answers to 3 questions about recovering health insurance premiums.

When transition looms, note employee interest in staying on

03/01/2008

In uncertain economic times, employers sometimes have to cut staff and redraw org charts to stay competitive. Employees often know far in advance that change is coming—and that they may lose their jobs. And some already may be looking for ways to “get back” at their companies via lawsuits …

It’s essential to have clear hiring and promotion criteria

03/01/2008
The more specific and clear the minimum hiring or promotion criteria, the better. Detailed requirements net you better candidates and allow you to defend your hiring decisions later—if you need to …

FMLA compliance doesn’t rule out enforcing attendance policy

03/01/2008
We all know that people do get sick and miss work due to chronic conditions, accidents and serious illnesses. That doesn’t mean you cannot insist on good attendance. As you enforce your attendance policy, however, make sure you don’t count in any negative way absences covered by the FMLA …

Make sure supervisors can back up their promotion decisions

03/01/2008
Not every organization has a formal program for handling internal promotions. Some rely strictly on supervisor recommendations and employees’ expressions of interest to identify candidates. That can lead to big trouble if supervisors can’t later articulate who wanted a promotion and why they recommended (or declined to recommend) an employee for a new job …